Dark Journey
by AspergianStoryteller
Summary: Rowan was small, timid and weak. Now he was almost blind too, and about to embark on the most dangerous adventure of his life.
1. Pain

_Dark Journey_

Summary: Rowan was small, timid and weak. Now he was almost blind too, and about to embark on the most dangerous adventure of his life. I don't own Rowan of Rin.

* * *

Chapter 1: Pain

The Keepers of the Coolhouse were absent, attending the village meeting. Rowan was thankfull for this as he rested his aching head against a cupboard door.

_'We must climb the Mountain to find out why the Stream has stopped.'_

The words rattled around his brain. That morning - waking up outside, the bell ringing out, that fearful decision made at the meeting - it had all been so fast.

_'Where were you, Rowan? Why didn't you come home last night?'_

_'I... I fell asleep, I think,'_ he had told his sister when they found each other.

_'Again?... Next time you have a sleepover with the bukshaa I want to come too.'_

Six people were going to leave the safety of Rin to climb the Mountain, to make the Stream flow again.

_'Skinny Rabbit!' Strong Jonn called out to him. 'Run to the Coolhouse and fetch two strong cheeses for Sheba, from the top shelf!'_

Rowan had stumbed through the crowd, face red and head sore.

_'He will never be the man his father was...' Val the Miller muttered to her twin brother Ellis._

His father, Sefton, who had died saving him from their burning house years ago. Of course he couldn't possibly be that man. Sefton had been like majority of Rin: tall, strong and brave. Well liked, too. Rowan was small and timid and weak. He could not work in the fields like his mother Jiller. He was terrified of heights, unlike Jonn the Orchard Keeper. When food was scarce and he had to climb trees, he would cling to lowest branches while the bukshaa he was the keeper of ate their fruit.

_'Uhh...' The cool and shade was so much better than the noise of the villagers outside, and the sunlight paining his eyes._

_What had happened to him? Rowan had woken to early morning light touching his face - through a curtain of leaves._

_'Ah?'_

_His body was sprawled out over the grass. It felt bruised all over, and cold._

_'Ngh!' Pain shot through his head. Dizzy darkness filled his eyes. His ears rang._

My head... did I hit it on something?

_It took him a minute, but Rowan was soon able to lift an arm and gently inspect his head._

_'Ah!' he groaned quietly. The lightest touch sent throbbing waves of pain through his skull and sent him spinning into space._

_A few minutes later, he came back enough notice there was a wetness on his fingers. Bringing them close to his eyes, he thought it looked like blood._

I've hit my head, _he thought._ And the rest of me. How? What happened?

Rowan had managed to get up and stagger - collapsing several times - to the bukshaa pool. Few people were out that early and he didn't see them. He'd cleared his head with a little water - not much because the bukshaa needed the dwindling supply far more than him, and gone to attend them. Then the bell had rung, signalling a village meeting.

The Dragon on the Mountain had not roared in seven days, nor had the Stream so vital to Rin flowed properly. Now a group of villagers would be journeying up the Mountain to find the source of the Stream and make it flow again. What dangers would they face? Rowan shuddered just thinking about it.

Rowan breathed deeply and stood on a small stepping ladder to the highest cupboards with the oldest, strongest cheese that Sheba, the Wise Woman and healer liked.

Since he had woken up under a tree, he had probably fallen from it. What baffled Rowan was _why had he been up a tree?_ The biggest tree in Rin for that matter, where they named their children, farewelled their dead and held marriages? There was no fruit up there.

Well, it hardly mattered now with the whole Mountain issue going on.

XXX xxx XXX

Later, Rowan had made it out of Sheba's hut (alive! Alive!) with a cut on his forehead and a fearful prophecy in it. Marlie and Jonn had assumed that fear and falling asleep in the bukshaa field without a blanket were what made his face pale and pained.

Sheba had called them all fools and said the Mountain would crush them, but she still gave them her advice, frightening and crypic though it was.

_'Seven Hearts the journey make_

_Seven ways the hearts will break._

_Bravest heart will carry on_

_When sleep is death, and hope is gone._

_Look in the fiery jaws of fear_

_And see the answer white and clear,_

_Then throw away all thoughts of home_

_For only then your quest is done.'_

_Jonn railed at her, but the Wise Woman sneered him and would speak no clearer._

_'It would do no harm for you to lead the quest, Skinny Rabbit,' she taunted Rowan. 'Since you are the only one with fear, you are the only one with sense!' She frightened him with her talk of how Jonn would blubber like a baby in the Mountain's grip. When he told her to apologise she mockingly did so, and threw a stick at them suddenly. Startled, Marlie jumped aside, so the stick struck Rowan on the forehead, making him bleed again. _

_He took the stick home with him. _

_What a frightful situation,_ he thought on the way. _Six of us are to climb into danger._ Sheba's words echoed relentlessly in his head.

'Do not worry so much, Skinny Rabbit,' said Jonn. 'We will do our best. Sheba loves to bully people.' He sighed.

'What your mother will say when I bring you home to her in this state...'

XXX xxx XXX

Jiller had cleaned Rowan's cut and decleared it minor, but she frowned with worry. He was given lunch (he managed a few mouthfuls before his stomach threatened rebellion) and sent to bed, which he accepted without complaint.

Underneath his fears about the upcoming quest, Rowan was concerned about his growing dizziness and headache. Black spots danced in his vision and sounds seemed to be coming from behind doors.

_I must have fallen quite hard._

He slept through the afternoon. Jiller woke him at dinner - which he ate little of - and he heard what had been decided at the meeting after he left: the ones who were to go.

Strong Jonn of the Orchard. Marlie the Weaver. Allun the Baker. Bronden the Furniture Maker. Val and Ellis the Millers.

'Jonn is to go?' Rowan asked.

_'The Mountain has defeated stronger, braver men than you, Strong Jonn. You will twist and blubber in its grip, but the Mountain will not let you go...'_

Jiller's lips were pressed together in a thin line. Her face was pale.

'Yes.'

'Oh... Um, I am sure Jonn will come back safely, Mother. He is very strong. And so are the others.'

Jiller closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath.

'Yes, he is strong. As we must be while we wait for them.'

XXX xxx XXX

Annad and Rowan went to bed at same time, both exhausted. Laying in the bed next to her's, Rowan was caught between dread and darkness. Sheba's taunting words filled his head. His eyelids were heavy as lead.

When he fell asleep, nightmares chased him. _Jonn and Jiller stood by in Sheba's hut as the wise woman herself, a giant, loomed over Rowan. Her long, greasy, string hair swung over him and her hot breath burned him._

_'The only one afraid! The only one with sense!' she croaked. Sheba opened her mouth to laugh, and she had no tongue, and her mouth was as smooth and yellow as cheese. And Rowan was falling..._

XXX xxx XXX

This time, upon waking, there was a duller pain in Rowan's head. He was trembling and sweaty and sore. Too scared to try sleeping again, he threw back his covers and slowly sat up.

The world did not spin as much as it had yesterday, though it was hard to tell in the dark. Cold air blew in from the open window.

There was a pile of clothes beside Rowan's bed, which he wiggled into.

_Owch!_

He could feel the bruises coming out on his body. They would undoubtedly be big purple blooms when daylight came.

There something long and hard in his trouser pocket - the stick Sheba threw at him the day before! Fingering it, Rowan noticed it was very smooth, save for a bump in the middle, which was likely what had cut him. He pressed it - and the stick _unrolled..._

_It is not a stick. This is a parchment! What is written on it?_

He fumbled around with their lamp, and a dim yellow light soon revealed Annad sleeping peacefully in her bed, clutching the soft bukshaa toy Rowan made for her.

_I need to clean this lamp. It is lit, but I cannot see much._

There were lines all over the parchment, spread out with their shoes on the corners. Rowan clapped a hand over his mouth to still a cry.

The "stick" was a map of the Mountain. Sheba had given them something after all, and they might never have found it had Rowan not kept it. Exactly what they needed. How she must have laughed as they left!

'Rowan? What are you doing?'

His head turned quickly to see his mother at the door, already dressed. They blinked at each other.

'Ah, I had a dream and...'

Jiller sighed in exasperation.

'These nightmares, Rowan. What am I to do with you, my son?' Her lips might have trembled then. She covered her face for a moment.

'They left at dawn,' she said. 'If we are to see them off, we must get up now. Get your shoes on while I wake Annad.'

'Ah, Mama - Mother! Look at this! It is a map of the Mountain!'

XXX xxx XXX

An hour later, a heavy pack on his back and a heavier weight in his middle, Rowan wondered again if this was such a good idea.

It turned out that the map only revealed itself in _his _hands. So if the questers wanted to see it, he had to go with them. Him. The most unpromising, disappointing child in the village. Scared of everything. Injured too.

But his bukshaa needed him. He had _never_ let them down before. To them, he was protector and friend. Rowan had stayed out all night, gone out early and come home late when they needed him too. He had climbed trees and learned to cure their ills. On cold, frosty mornings and hot summer afternoons, when they gave birth or needed comfort from the Dragon's roar, he was there for them.

Now they needed water.

_And I will not fail them._

And so here he was, tramping along with the adults towards danger.

Rowan looked back, but even in the bright sunlight, Rin was a blurry mass below them.

'Oi, Rowan,' Allun called. 'Do watch where you are-'

'Oof!'

Rowan stumbled backwards, wheeling his arms around while the world spun in a way that was becoming awfully familiar.

'Sorry!'

Allun laughed.

'I do not think the tree minds.'

* * *

Alright readers. What do you think? Do you have any advice or constructive critisism?


	2. Fall

_Dark Journey_

Summary: Rowan was small, timid and weak. Now he was almost blind too, and about to embark on the most dangerous adventure of his life. I don't own Rowan of Rin. Emily Rodda does.

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Chapter 2: Fall

_Previously..._

_Rowan stumbled backwards, wheeling his arms around while the world spun in a way that was becoming awfully familiar._

_'Sorry!'_

_Allun laughed._

_'I do not think the tree minds.'_

For some time now, it was only by thinking of the bukshaa that Rowan was able to keep walking. His pack was heavy, and it cut into his shoulders. His head (and most of his body really) was sore and hot. He was huffing as he walked, and although the sun was bright, it seemed to Rowan that he walking at dusk, or looking through a dirty window.

_Wait for me, Star. I am going to bring back the water. I promise you, I will bring it back, without fail._

Recalling shaggy bukshaa wool against his skin, their warm, animal smell and low bellows, Rowan found the strength to keep putting his feet forward.

XXX xxx XXX

'Is there something up there?'

Dora shook her head.

'Not now.'

'Not now?' Annad repeated.

Dora scowled.

'My kitten, Dusty, is always climbing up there and getting stuck. He isn't big enough yet but he keeps going up there!'

'Oh. So how does he get down?'

'My mama or my cousin goes up to get him down.'

'Annad! Dora! Pay attention!'

'Sorry Timon!' Their teacher continued talking about the great tree, and Annad looked down towards the field where the bukshaa lived.

'Oo... look Annad,' Dora pointed to a patch of grass in front of her.

'What is it?' Annad asked, walking over.

'Look here, this grass is kind of reddy-brown.'

'Red? You're right. It looks like blood.'

'Annad, Dora? What are you looking at?' Timon stood over the girls.

'There's blood on this grass,' Dora piped.

'Right here,' Annad pointed down helpfully.

Timon peered down at the grass, which was indeed stained a dark red-brown, like old blood. Not very old, for it had not been washed away by rain. It had likely been spilt only a day or two ago.

An uneasy feeling suddenly came upon him, as though several things he had forgotten were looming close, about to fall together with a shattering.

XXX xxx XXX

Marlie and Bronden bickered over the worth of checking out the hole where the Stream came out while Jonn, Val and Ellis watched and Rowan sank down onto the grass under the cliff.

Allun eyed him, and kneeled beside him.

'Drink a little,' he advised, 'but not too much. We may not find anymore good water on the Mountain.' Tears sprang into Rowan's eyes as he reluctantly recapped his flask, and Allun's heart ached. He had been watching the boy on the way there, with concern. Almost certainly there was more to his sorry state than exhaustion.

They all looked at the map again and found it to have six blank spaces amid colour and line. Then Broden was complaining about Rowan slowing them down and they began preparing for a long, hard climb up the cliff.

'Anyway, the compasses are a marvel,' Bronden was saying, 'the Maris folk use them when they are sailing in open water. With them and the map, we will be home by tomorrow night.'

Marlie argued against that, and Bronden snapped back that she took _nothing _for granted, as well Marlie knew!

'I believe only what I see with my own eyes. And if you fear, perhaps you should not have come. It is bad enough that we must drag the boy along, quivering in his boots.'

Jonn sharply reminded her it was she who had insisted they bring him. Allun knew, despite his earlier teasing, that Jonn was deeply worried about Rowan, not only for Jiller's sake, but for the boy's own. He was not good at showing it, but Jonn did like Rowan.

_I am sure that he has also noticed something off about him lately,_ he mused. _I will have to talk to him later. But for now, _

'It would better if we could put aside our differences for now,' he said aloud. 'We will need to work together while we are up here.' He widened his eyes and stuttered. 'If being afraid is the issue, I confess, I- I am absolutely t-t-terrified!' He hid a smile when Jonn and Marlie laughed, and Rowan smiled. As expected, Broden scowled, and Val and Ellis looked blankly at him, then at each other.

_Someday, I am going to catch Bronden off guard and make her laugh._

Marlie had been sorting out the ropes for the climb. She stood tossed one to Allun.

'Shall we be going now? If Allun can be relieved of his fear.' She smiled. 'I am not afraid, but all the same, I do not fancy a fall from these rocks.'

XXX xxx XXX

It was like the worst of nightmares.

The rope tying Rowan to Ellis and the other adults above and Jonn below stopped him from falling to his death, but not from slipping.

His fingers scrabbled at the rocks and he tipped backwards. Rowan's heart thudded hard in his chest - _no no no!- _He fell down and out, guts rushing up into his mouth, the sky and earth spinning.

'Arrrggghhh!'

Completely out of control as he swung out and back into the cliff with a bruising thump. The rope that saved his life crushed his ribs.

Again and again.

_What if someone else falls? I am light, but what if Jonn or Ellis falls? We may all be pulled to our deaths!_

'Haa... haa... haa...' Rowan put one hand after the after, step after step up, because he absolutely had to do this. Sweating, shaking, sore and burning, he was finally dragged over the top by Marlie and Allun.

'There you are,' Allun was saying. 'All safe and sound. Come on now, Jonn! Skinny Rabbit has beaten you up here! Oi, Rowan-'

XXX xxx XXX

_The grey sky was turning dark. Rowan was coming home later than usual from the bukshaa field. Boiled well water, he found, did not trouble the beasts' stomachs as fresh well water did, but they cared little for it, even sweetened with crushed peas._

_As he was passing under the great tree, Rowan heard a mewing. He looked around, then up, and saw there was a little grey kitten clinging to a branch._

Who's cat is that? Oh no, is it stuck? Ahh, I don't want to fetch it~ but - no - no one else here. Bother.

_'Mew! Mew! Mew!'_

Bother. I cannot leave it up there...

_There were some suitible nooks for his feet, and a nice low branch that soon had him much too high for comfort. The kitten was several metres up. (Rowan tried not to count, but at least three Jonns could have stood on each other's shoulders)._

Pitter pitter pitter pitter...

_It began to drizzle._

_Bother again!_

Alright, it's right over there. Do _not_ look down.

_He shuffled across the branch until he was right under the kitten, clinging to a smaller limb above._

_'Kitten, over here. Come here,' he cooed, stretching out his arms. 'Come on, it is alright. I am here. I - waah!'_

_He wobbled dangerously. Rowan brought his hands down and clamped them onto his branch, while his legs tightened their grip._

_'Haa... oh my goodness, oh my goodness. Alright. It is alright.'_

_Lights were coming on in the village. Rowan could see them twinking through the leaves. A smell of dry earth becoming wet rose from the ground. The air was cool._

_It is kind of peaceful here, Rowan thought._

Pitter pitter pitter...

_Once again, Rowan reached for the kitten and slowly coaxed it into hs hands._

_'There there,' he whispered. 'You are safe now. I will get you down.' The young cat was very light and warm. It quivered in Rowan's hands. He whispered and stroked it and cuddled it until it purred and licked his fingers._

_He had no pocket suitible to put the kitten in, so he pressed it to his chest with one hand and began to shuffle backward. Rowan startled when his back hit the trunk. Now, how to climb down with one arm?_

_'Mew! Mew!'_

_'Do not worry, kitten. It will be alright.' The words were ment to reassure himself as much as the cat._

_He wrapped his right arm around the thick branch and awkwardly slid his body over the side, feet settling upon another branch beneath._

Yes! I did it!

_The next step was easy, litterally a step onto a smaller branch. Then a short lift down, then a turn and lift. His arm was soon sore, and Rowan was still terrified, but the ground was now only two Jonns and one Rowan away._

_Now, a half body length down and around the tree trunk to the next branch - (_how _had he gotten up here in the first place?)_

_Rowan stroked the grey kitten on its head to calm himself down before he gripped his perch hard and dug his feet into the trunk. They slid down. Rowan's breath caught in his chest. His summer boots managed to catch themselves in a groove._

_'Haa...'_ I thought I was done.

_He took a deep breath and lifted his left foot to stretch over -_

_and both his feet slipped out._

_'Ahh!'_

_Rowan's right arm jarred painfully as he hung onto his branch, feet scrabbling desperately for purchase._

_'Argh!'_

_The fall was fast. Rowan's stomach flopped and his heart seemed to stop in terror. Leaves, grass, branches and sky spun around him. His shoulder smacked into a branch once before he landed on his back and head, and everything went black._

XXX xxx XXX

Rowan fainted as Jonn was pulled over the cliff top after him. Jonn cursed quietly and was turning him over before Allun had finished untying him.

'He does not look well.'

'He has only fainted,' Val grumbled. 'Shall we wake him already?'

'Not just yet,' Allun murmured. 'Why don't we all catch our breath for now? It has been hard climb. Oh my poor fingers!' Marlie was the only one who smiled this time. She helped him finished releasing everyone from their ropes and stowed hers away. Allun put his rope in his pack, glancing at Jonn and Rowan.

He was not surprised the boy had fainted; it really had been a hard climb, physically and mentally. And poor Rowan was scared of heights. It must have been a nightmare for him, judging by the screams.

Marlie drank a long mouthful of water and dribbled some into a handerchief from her pocket.

'Here.' She handed the small cloth to Jonn to cool Rowan's face with.

'Thank you.'

'Do not forget to water yourself, Jonn,' Allun said, taking his friend's flask out. Jonn took it and drank, while Allun plopped down beside them.

They were all somewhat sweaty and red-faced, something they were used to in any case from working. As Allun watched, Rowan's face went from red to pink to white.

_What is wrong with you?_

XXX xxx XXX

'Uhh, Star, stop that...'

_Slurp! Slurp!_

'He is dreaming of home already,' someone muttered. 'Why did we bring him again?'

_Huh? What is going on?_

'He fought that cliff to exhaustion.'

Rowan's eyelids fluttered open and he snapped them shut with a wince. The sunlight, despite it's dimness, pierced through his skull like a needle.

'Ah, Rowan,' said Jonn, 'how are you?' He was wiping Rowan's forehead with a wet cloth. _Not Star licking me. Oh, I wish I was with her._

'Rowan? Oi, are you awake?'

'I am awake, Jonn,' he whispered. Any more noise would break his head in two.

'How many fingers am I holding up?'

'Huh?'

'Answer me. How many fingers?'

'Three.'

Jonn sat back.

'Did you hit your head on something recently?' he asked. 'There is a very large lump on your head, Rowan.'

'I did hit my head,' Rowan admited, 'but it is not too bad. I can keep going.'

'It is a big bump,' Allun said seriously. 'It is not wise to go on strolls with a head injury.'

'I am fine,' Rowan insisted. 'Or I will be soon. I cannot turn back now just because my head is sore.' He stared determindly into Jonn's eyes.

* * *

Please note that idiots who insist they are fine when they're obviously not (common in cannon stories and fanfiction) piss me off. Rowan isn't really such an idiot, (remember, people of Rin are sensible) he just believes there is no option in this case but to keep going. He's the only one who can reveal the map after all.


End file.
